Suited to the Site

An architect brings his vision for a boathouse built right into its natural landscape to life

Nestled into a hillside, this boathouse is the result of the design vision of architect Floyd Hamblen in collaboration with the expertise of master carpenter and mason Lew Lama. The boathouse lies in the path of a water runoff field, so Lama’s main concern was water-and-land management. The walls and terraces on both sides of the boathouse create attractive areas for entertaining; more important, though, they provide erosion control, as they direct water away from the boathouse and into the lake.